Nutrition:

Ingredients

Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

2 tbsp cold water

Method

Tip flour into a mixing bowl. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add. Toss to coat with flour. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour, lifting it in the bowl as you do so to keep it light and cool. Continue until it looks like breadcrumbs. Shake the bowl and any larger lumps of butter will come to the surface to rub in.

Sprinkle in 2 tbsp cold water and mix with a round-ended knife until the mixture starts to come together. Gather the dough with your hands, wiping it round the bowl to pick up stray pieces. Put the dough onto a work surface sprinkled very lightly with flour. Knead lightly to form a smooth ball.

Sprinkle the rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll out the dough using short sharp strokes to avoid stretching, giving the dough a quarter turn each time you roll to keep the shape.

Set the flan tin on the baking sheet. When the dough is about 5cm larger than the tin, lift it up draped over the rolling pin and lay it across the flan tin. Press the dough into the corners of the tin using your fingers, don’t trim off the edges. Chill for 30 mins.

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Fill the pastry case with a round of baking paper and add baking beans (see tip) to weigh it down. Bake for 15 mins, then carefully remove the paper and beans and cook the pastry for 5 mins more (this is called baking blind).

Carefully trim off the excess pastry using a small sharp knife and use as required, cooling if needed.

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Comments, questions and tips

I gave up making my own pastry and ended up buying ready made packages of pastry from the supermarket. (Fillo, puff, shortcrust). I have a great time inventing my own fillings and creating a range of recipes.

johnlin44

20th Nov, 2011

as i have arthritis in my hand i find it easy to grate the cold butter into the flour then rub in it was still good

katieb_80

17th Oct, 2011

4.05

made pastry for the first time at the weekend..first batch was a disaster as it just wouldnt stay together when I rolled it out(think i overdid it in the magimix) second batch I used a rachel allen recipe with an egg and used her technique of rolling between two sheets of cling film - worked a treat! Net curtains suggestions are spot on. Wish I had read this before my disaster but got there in the end.

netcurtains

9th Jun, 2011

2.05

I make my shortcrust pastry in a kenwood food processor and the above version tends to be a little dry. I never buy shop bought stuff!! For a far richer and tastier version use one egg plus 1 TBSP water. Leave the pastry to chill for at least 30 minutes. What Mary does not mention is how vital it is to then leave the pastry to get back to room temperature before then rolling out on a floured surface. Also the pastry needs to cook for about 25 minutes in all baking blind for the first 10 mins at 200c. Prick the base and remove the baking beans and cook for a further 15 minutes. Wash with beaten egg for the last 5 minutes. This is to avoid partly cooked pastry in the final quiche. It has taken me ages to master the art of shortcrust pastry and using a processor ensures it can be made with a minimum of fuss. Good luck

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Roll out the dough using short sharp strokes to avoid stretching, giving the dough a quarter turn each time you roll to keep the shape.

Step 4

Lay it into the tin

Set the flan tin on the baking sheet. When the dough is about 5cm larger than the tin, lift it up draped over the rolling pin and lay it across the flan tin. Press the dough into the corners of the tin using your fingers, don’t trim off the edges. Chill for 30 mins.

Step 5

Bake the case blind

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Fill the pastry case with a round of baking paper and add baking beans (see tip) to weigh it down. Bake for 15 mins, then carefully remove the paper and beans and cook the pastry for 5 mins more (this is called baking blind).

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